Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker pleads not guilty to N.J. murder

A homeless man who gained Internet fame as 'Kai the hatchet wielding hitchhiker' pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges that he killed a 73-year-old man in New Jersey, according to a source familiar with the proceedings.

A homeless man who gained Internet fame as 'Kai the hatchet wielding hitchhiker' pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges that he killed a 73-year-old man in New Jersey, according to a source familiar with the proceedings.

The man, 24-year-old Caleb McGillvary, was arrested in May after police charged him with killing attorney Joseph Galfy, who was found bludgeoned to death in his house in Clark.

A spokesman for the prosecutor's office had previously said there had been considerable evidence that led police to McGillvary, including a video of him with the victim at a train station.

Lorraine Stanley, the public defender representing McGillvary, pled not guilty on his behalf before Judge Brenda Coppola Cuba. The source said the case would now go before a grand jury, which can typically take up to two months when dealing with a homicide charge.

McGillvary, a lanky redhead known to roam the streets with a large backpack, rocketed to fame on You Tube in February after he pulled out a hatchet and rescued a woman being threatened in Fresno, California.

He was arrested near a Greyhound bus terminal in Philadelphia on May 16 after a witness from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contacted police and reported seeing Galfy with a man matching McGillvary's description, prosecutors said last month.